Different As It's Always Been
by Moonsetta
Summary: SAINW, a world of darkness, lost hope and death. How does my dark world of TMNT compare? I'll let you be the judge of that.


Ok, I've seen SAINW dozens if not hundreds of times so after watching it, yet again, I decided that I wanted to make up a dark world as well. So I'm really just trying to see how dark I can make it. So it's really just an experiment at this point. Maybe I'll work with it some in the future.

I don't own TMNT.

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"Status Donatello!" a rough voice yelled over the speaker.

The purple masked turtle sighed, moving away from the speaker to do so, and then answered, "No luck, the transports been affiliated on orders other than on radio connection. It might be one on paper."

He flinched as the sound of a slamming fist followed his explanation.

"I'll be right down. If those idiots believe simply transferring orders onto stationery will stop us, then they're wrong.

As the sound of the footsteps grew, the genius turtle sighed and glanced up as a shadow emerged from the circular, metal staircase above. As the turtle walked into the light, Don tried to see the brother he had known so long ago in this new being.

"Got any information of it's whereabouts?" the shadow asked before he completely descended the steps.

Don didn't even bother to turn back to his computer, "A commander in the third labor camp, his name's Hagerbrought."

"I'll return at 2100 hours," the shadow said as he stepped into the light.

The purple masked turtle couldn't look away as the brother he once knew so well, headed towards one of the trap doors inside the room.

"Be carefully, Mikey."

The figure turned around swiftly and glared at his older brother, "I told you not to call me that!"

"You'll always be my little brother."

Michelangelo sighed, "Stop with the emotions Donatello, they'll get you killed in this world."

"Good luck," Don said forcefully with his dry voice.

Mike's eyes softened a bit, "Get yourself some sleep, we have to stop that caravan tomorrow and I'm going to need a technical expert there to hack into their system."

"Hack into their system?" Don asked, turning completely around to stare at his little brother.

"I still wanna believe," Mike mumbled before he lifted a metal trap door on the floor and slipped underground into tunnels that stretched underneath the city.

As the trap door fell closed Don sighed and turned back to his computer, recalling the image of his younger brother now and then. Mikey, which he didn't allow anyone to calm him anymore, used to be so full of life. Now he only cared about surviving and doing everything under radar. The bright orange mask he once wore, he burned, along with his smiling and joking ways. Where the jokester he knew stood, now stood a battle hard warrior. He no longer showed emotion, his bright blue eyes were now nearly all gray. He now sported a black mask over those dieing eyes. His nunchucks that he used for their training, now lay bloodstained on their final family battlefield. Mike never picked them up again after that fight. Now he had knives in his belt, and in the sash across his chest. He had explosives as well, rumors in the base among the freedom fighters was that he never took them off and he never slept or ate.

Besides the knives and explosives, he always had two large battle axes across his lower shell. He had a single katana on his belt among the knives. He took I out only to polish it with the rest. He also wrapped the handle in brown leather. He said when he made the final strike at the Shredder, it would be that katana that went through the dictator's heart. Both of them had long, thick scars over their plastron, shell and skin. Mikey's skin seemed to be growing darker every day though, as if in grieving memory of what used to be. The purple masked mutant turtle reached up and turned of the computer in front of him. As the screen went black, the few lights in the room reflected his image on the screen. He too, had to admit, that he had changed, a lot. His bo staff was a defensive weapon, not recommended for warfare. That's what they were in, war. A total apocalypse actually. Dictatorship rule of the planet. Every day, it seemed like the Shredder won. But they held on to hope. Him, and most of the freedom fighters.

Don rose up from the desk he had been working at and shuffled to a small room. They were at what used to be a prison but was long abandoned and torn apart. Standing up just enough to house them for a few days before they would move again. He sat down on an uncomfortable bed and then reached underneath it until his hand found a cloth bag. He pulled it out and reached inside until his fingertips touched a slip of paper. He pulled it out slowly, not wanting to rip it up. It was a picture of their family and friends. Mike had drawn it long ago, before everything terrible started happening. Next to each friend and family was a small symbol that stood for their status.

Splinter-a large Z-comatose state Current duration: 32 years

Leonardo-a skull-Death: 30 years ago

Raphael-a giant M-Disappearance: 35 years ago

Himself-FF-freedom fighter

Michelangelo-FF L-freedom fighter, leader of the resistance

Leatherhead-a skull-Death: 5 years ago

Casey-an X-Prisoner of the Shredder

April-an X-Prisoner of the Shredder

Angel-FF-freedom fighter

And yes, even some enemies found their way onto the side of the resistance.

Bishop-FF 2-freedom fighter, second-in-command of the resistance

Hun-a skull-Death: 25 years ago

Stockman-an X-Prisoner of the Shredder

All in all, life was dead. The air was polluted heavily by tar and other chemicals the labor camps dumped into streams and blew into the air. His olive green fingertips hovered over the picture of his father. Their leader had been out, looking for their hotheaded brother when the lair was found. Splinter protected he and Mike for just enough time while their oldest brother returned and cut through the Foot soldiers to get them all out. In the end, Splinter had fallen into a comatose state. He had been in the coma for 32 years now but they kept hoping. Don wiped at his watery eyes and continued looking on at the picture. Next, his eyes traveled to his immediate older brother, their local hothead. Yes, he had been itching for a fight but the three brothers turned when they heard the roof ledge crumble before a Foot soldier tackled the red masked turtle over the side of the rooftop.

That was the last time they saw their brother. 35 years ago.

Don wiped hastily at the tears coursing down his face and let his eyes and hand wander over to the next figure. Here is where he gave up and pushed the paper back into his cloth bag. He could barely stand to see that smile, that shade of grassy green skin and those dark chocolate eyes that seemed so similar to his own.

He forced his lips to shape the name before he whispered it in the dim light, "Leo, Leonardo."

He couldn't say it out loud, especially to Mike. The youngest had made both their older brothers' names illegal. They were to never be spoken of. Any who questioned it was thrown outside, in danger of being found by the Shredder's patrol quads. Their oldest brother, now thirty years dead, still haunted their minds, Mike's mostly. When there wasn't much trouble Don would locate his younger brother when he did sleep and found that his little brother still murmured in his sleep. He never dreamed, he had nightmares every time he seemed to close his eyes. It was clear by his shouts in the night that he dreamed of their final family battle. Where Leo had taken two hits for him. The first was taking his own sword through his chest, right next to his heart. The second, was the one that ended everything. Don had just gotten to his feet during that battle and looked across the rooftop to see the Shredder looming over his younger brother, his twin bladed gauntlet raised to kill the young turtle.

Don couldn't have made it on time, but Leo knew he could and he did. He had enough time to knock the Shredder away, but with one of his own swords in his chest, he did only what he had the strength to do, take the hit. The gauntlet came down and then the area was sprayed with dark turtle blood. His body hit the ground as Shredder's claws dripped with blood and grassy green skin. Mikey froze as he stared at the scene in front of him. After that he had been in shock for two days strait. No one blamed him though. Watching the beheading of your own brother, was not a calming experience. Yes, the Shredder had slash down and separated Leo's head from his body. Claiming the head as his trophy. Mike had been the most shocked by it. It was five years later that he finally spoke again. It was two years after that, that the loving, joking youngest turtle vanished, leaving behind a black masked war hardened warrior.

"DONATELLO WHERE ARE YOU!" an raging voice yelled as a trap door hit the floor.

Don opened his eyes, he must have fallen asleep. Mike appeared in the doorway and his eyes fell to the cloth bag.

"Again?" he asked in an emotionless voice.

"Again," Don answered truthfully.

"Well get off your lazy shell and decode this!" Mike yelled as he threw a disc at him.

Don caught it with ease and sat up, "I thought the command was on paper."

"It was," Mikey explained while he glared, "I freaking destroyed it and took out the building's staff, the released prisoners are meeting with our fighters and medics. Now decode that thing quickly, the Shredder's going underground and I think I found our brother."

Don dropped the disc onto the bed as his jaw dropped.

"Decode it and we can find him, I found a file and downloaded it as quickly as I could before I set fire to the building."

Don scooped up the disc and ran to his computer, but it started up too slowly for him and he fumbled as he tried to put the disc in. Eventually he forced himself to relax and focus on the situation. It was just three minutes later that they found the source video feed. It revealed a small, dark room, where some creature with narrowed eyes was banging at the bars on his cell.

"I'LL KILL YOU! YOU-AHHH!"

The creature fell to his knees as a long rod caught his shoulder and shocked him. Then, the screen went black, but not before they caught the color of dark green skin and a red mask.

"Raphael," they whispered.

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Well, that's about all I got. I actually got kind of bored with this at the end. Review if you want!

~Moonsetta


End file.
